Posts Tagged ‘Georgia’

Every day inside and outside of Emory facility walls our staff and care team members make it their priority to live our mission to serve humanity by improving health. That mission is carried out in obvious ways through the direct partnership between our patients and care team, but also in less obvious ways, by improving our community’s access to top quality patient-centered health care.

In late 2011, we improved access to everyday health care services by partnering with the CVS MinuteClinic to provide health care at 31 locations across the metro Atlanta area without an appointment. As we brought in the New Year, we welcomed the newest member of the Emory Healthcare family, Saint Joseph’s Hospital. Partnering with Saint Joseph’s means two of Atlanta’s leading health care organizations are now working in collaboration to bring an unparalleled level of health care and access to our Atlanta and Georgia communities.

Because the health care needs of our communities are constantly growing, we’ve taken another step to broaden access to the unparalleled level of care provided to the Emory Healthcare community. We have established an agreement to enter into negotiations for Emory to manage Southern Regional Health System that will integrate the Riverdale, Georgia health care network into our own.

These talks come at quite a momentous time for the Emory Healthcare community. While we work to improve access to top-notch health care in Georgia through a partnership with Southern Regional, we also move towards a relationship that will establish the facility as a hospital partner in Emory’s Clinically Integrated Network serving the Southern Crescent area.

The partnership between Southern Regional Health System and Emory Healthcare is an intuitive one, according to Southern Regional’s CEO, Jim Crissey, due to Emory Healthcare’s commitment to high quality care, its strong local presence, proven financial strength and solid reputation in the community.
“Our board is confident that Emory’s mission aligns closely with our own and our shared values will help us to form a successful partnership,” said CEO Crissey. “Most importantly, a partnership with Emory Healthcare will preserve access to high quality care for the communities we serve,” he said.

We will be sure to keep you updated as discussions with Southern Regional progress here on our blog. If you have comments or feedback on this blog, please leave them for us and our readers in the comments below!

As an Emory Healthcare team member, I can truly say working amongst the multifaceted team of exceptional individuals at Emory is a powerful and rewarding experience. My peers at Emory Healthcare agree, as is evident from the feedback our team provided to The Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) resulting in Emory Healthcare being named one of the best places to work in Atlanta, and specifically, one of the top 20 large companies at which to work, in their “debut edition” of Metro Atlanta’s Top 100 Workplaces.

The list of nearly 500 nominated companies was whittled down to 166 back in January, and the AJC partnered with Workplace Dynamics to survey over 40,000 team members from these companies. According to the AJC, “Companies were graded (per survey responses) on several factors — the direction of the company, execution, work conditions, career paths, management, pay and benefits.”

But as the AJC notes, and we agree, there are always intangible factors that end up playing a huge role in what it means to be part of your team. Maybe it comes in the form of the amazing dedication you see from your peers, who may have different roles, but give everything they have to accomplish & exceed common goals. Or maybe it’s the passion you see in leadership teams that inspire organizations in an authentic and ethical way. Perhaps it’s the sense of family and community you have with your coworkers, who at the end of the day, are true friends.

These are just a few of the ways in which we are all inspired as team members to do everything we can to make the Emory Healthcare community experience the best it can be. The strength of the Emory Healthcare family allows us to wholeheartedly concentrate on our mission, “To serve humanity by improving health.” At Emory Healthcare, we are diverse in our backgrounds and strengths, but we all share this common goal, and we carry it out by supporting each other and supporting our patients and families.

We thank the AJC for recognizing the special family over here at Emory Healthcare. If you are part of the Emory Healthcare team and want to give a shout out to someone, or if you’re part of our community & have feedback, please don’t hesitate to comment below.

The Emory Voice Center is pleased to welcome Melissa Statham, MD as the latest addition to the Voice Center’s team of voice specialists!

Melissa Statham, MD, is a laryngologist specializing in pediatric voice disorders and care of the adult professional voice, airway and swallowing conditions.

A graduate of the University of Louisville School of Medicine, Dr. Statham completed her residency in otolaryngology at the University of Cincinnati, and pursued two fellowships following her residency. The first for laryngology and care of the professional voice at the University of Pittsburgh Voice Center, and the second in pediatric otolaryngology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

Dr. Statham has expertise in treating pediatric and adult voice conditions and airway disorders. Her research interests focus on pediatric voice disorders, novel laryngeal electromyography techniques and outcomes from pediatric and adult major airway surgery.

The study found that public-sector research was involved in the discovery of as many as 20% of therapies approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 1990-2007. Through studying the FDA review process, the researchers also found that public sector research institutes “tend to discover drugs that are expected to have a disproportionately important clinical effect.”

To determine impact of various research organizations, researchers for the study identified 153 FDA-approved drugs and vaccines that were discovered at least in part by public-sector research institutions during the past 40 years. The top five contributors were:

The National Institute of Health (NIH) (22)

The University of California System (11)

Memorial Sloan-Kettering (8)

Emory University (7)

Yale University (6)

The seven Emory products included HIV/AIDS drugs lamivudine (3TC) and emtricitabine (FTC), discovered by Emory scientists Dennis Liotta, PhD, and Raymond Schinazi, PhD, and their former colleague Woo-Baeg Choi, PhD. These two drugs are among the most commonly used and most successful HIV/AIDS drugs in the world, taken in some form by more than 94 percent of U.S. patients on therapy and by thousands more globally.

Emory University President, James Wagner, is extremely proud of the accomplishments of Emory researchers and scientists, commenting, “this study illustrates once again that our nation’s long-standing and world-leading policy of investment in research through universities and other public institutions, along with the responsible use of technology transfer, delivers a tremendous return through improved health for millions, innovative technologies, economic development and training for the next generation of innovators.”

We thank our Emory scientists making new discoveries that allow Emory Healthcare to continue to advance the possibilities in patient-centered health care and improve health in our communities.

A message from our CEO, John T. Fox, on the importance of Henry Medical Center to Emory Healthcare.

Many of you in our community may be aware that Henry Medical Center (HMC) is seeking to affiliate with a major health care system for the ongoing delivery of health care services to the residents of its community. After a comprehensive review process, HMC has selected Emory Healthcare as one of two finalists for this partnership. We believe Emory is uniquely qualified to serve in this role.

The decision to partner with any health system is an important one that could potentially change the delivery of health care in the Henry County community for years to come. As these important decisions about the quality of the community’s health care are being carefully evaluated by HMC leadership, we would like to share some insights about why extending access to Emory care would benefit our Henry County community members.

As one of the nation’s leading academic health care systems, Emory understands the challenges families face every day. Local care should be delivered in the community by local physicians, and we believe the Henry community has experienced and well-qualified health care providers. Our partnership with Henry County’s local providers and HMC would support the continuation of HMC’s capacity to offer the highest quality of care in the local community, a level of care that Emory is known for both locally and nationally.

When a physician seeks highly specialized care or treatments for complex conditions that may not be available in his or her community, collaboration can be the best medicine. Emory has been honored to serve as a trusted resource for many physicians within Henry County when they have sought care for their patients outside of the community. In fact, 50% of the complex cases referred outside of Henry County last year were sent to an Emory facility. As the only academic medical center in metro Atlanta and the largest, most comprehensive system in Georgia, just a few of Emory Healthcare’s achievements include:

For the past 20 years, Emory has been ranked as one of the nation’s best hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. In 2010, Emory and the Shepherd Spinal Center were the only hospitals in Georgia ranked in this key national survey.

Emory delivers groundbreaking clinical care. For example, we are currently one of only 21 health care facilities in the nation participating in a trial of a minimally invasive option for aortic valve replacement. This results in a tiny incision without open heart surgery and faster recovery for patients.

Emory has a long-standing tradition of serving our community. To learn more about our commitment to our local, state, national and global communities, please visit: www.emoryhealthcare.org/community.

If you have questions or comments about our interest in Henry Medical Center, please post them here and I will be happy to answer them.

With our reach and community involvement growing by the day, we at Emory Healthcare have spent a lot of time discussing what it is that makes our Emory Healthcare community such an important part of what we do. Who is part of our community? How many lives are we touching? Where can our community be found?

The answer to these questions are simple. The Emory Healthcare community is more than just a network of hospitals, affiliated and community hospitals, clinics, and telehealth locations. Our community is the people that make Emory Healthcare so special. It’s about our nurses, physicians, and staff that work with our patients, rather than on them. It’s our patients, families, and the communities that rely on the outstanding patient-centered care and innovative research taking place at Emory Healthcare every day.

Despite the fact that we have hospital and care facilities across Atlanta and the state of Georgia, our community extends beyond state lines and even globally.

Our community has taken shape on the Web, where we are able to get valuable feedback from interacting with our patients, families and people like you all over the world. We use tools like our YouTube channel to provide free educational videos, and our blog, to give our community free and easy access to doctor expertise and advice.

Our medical advances, clinical trials, research and educational efforts allow us to embrace the health care community as a whole, and play a role as a leader in advancing the possibilities of patient centered care. In an environment where we empower patients, their families, and our community to participate in and embrace their own health and care, everyone benefits. That’s the Emory difference.

Building on an existing 11-year history with the institution’s athletics department, Emory Healthcare has furthered its commitment to Georgia Tech athletics by making the relationship official. The multi-year partnership between Emory Healthcare and the Yellow Jackets makes Emory Healthcare the official health care system for Georgia Tech athletics.

Members of the Emory Healthcare community are buzzing with excitement over the recently enacted partnership. As President and CEO of Emory Healthcare, John T. Fox notes, “Partnering so closely with Georgia Tech and the Ramblin’ Wreck athletes is an exciting opportunity to support one of the nation’s premier collegiate athletics programs in its continual quest for conference and national championships across a wide array of sports, including football, basketball and baseball. It is also a tremendous opportunity to support our Atlanta neighbor, the Georgia Institute of Technology, with whom we share many scientific and medical research projects and initiatives.”

Home to one of the premier sports medicine programs in the Southeast and the country, Emory Healthcare comes equipped with just the right team to take on supporting a NCAA Division I athletics program.

“We have assembled a team of health care professionals at Emory who, when consulted, understand the unique needs of these seasoned athletes. We are prepared for the special challenges associated with their injuries, conditions, and strength and rehabilitation requirements as we work to help improve performance and help get these young men and women back on the field of competition,” remarks John W. Xerogeanes, MD, chief of the Emory Sports Medicine Center.

Where on Labor Day can you find teams of experts collaborating in high-pressure situations, a fast-paced environment, and neon lights? There are two places that come to mind immediately– the Atlanta Motor Speedway and Emory Healthcare’s community of hospitals and care providers. That’s why it only makes sense that this year Emory Healthcare is the title sponsor of Atlanta Motor Speedway’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, a night race event titled the “Emory Healthcare 500.”

The Emory Healthcare 500 is the first event of its kind that Emory Healthcare has chosen to sponsor, due in part to the unique opportunity it presents us to support the local community, Emory patients and physicians. As President and CEO of Emory Healthcare, John T. Fox, notes, “it is a unique opportunity to support the local communities that work so hard to host and operate one of the nation’s premier sporting events each year. It is also a chance to support and thank the many valued patients and physicians in the Henry County and Southern Crescent region who allow Emory to serve them for cutting-edge medical care.”

Keeping with the theme of supporting the local community, Emory Healthcare staff will be on-site to provide health screenings and educational information for race fans, visitors, and community members alike. Additionally, Emory Healthcare is also the new official health care provider of the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

We anticipate seeing many members of both the Emory Healthcare and Georgia communities on Labor Day at the Emory Healthcare 500 and we look forward to a great weekend and the opportunity to continue to serve our community with excellence in patient centered health care.

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